Your darkest secrets in office comp

24 Jun, 2007 l 0158 hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK The Times of India

They are usually invisible but they exist. They are called by many names in an office, like network administrators, computer guys or security people. They install software, clear massive old files and attend to problems. They are the guardians of office computers and they stand in the gateway between the office and the world wide web. They haunt the virtual spaces of the office and they know what you are typing, what you surf and probably even your passwords. So much personal information is so easily available to them that they are increasingly becoming powerful.

Among the new breed of all-knowing administrators is Iyer (real identity has been protected). “I’m not a stalker," he says, "I’m actually quite a nice person. It’s just that I like to keep up with the people who reside on my network." Many like him are keeping themselves updated on office politics, romance and the sex lives of colleagues. Sometimes, their jobs lead to comical situations.

Namita Chander is a systems administrator with a software services firm in Bangalore. The company policy required her to keep tabs on employee-surfing habits and block pornographic sites. But, as it turned out, one of the directors of the firm was addicted to surfing porn. "It takes a huge amount of self control to keep a straight face every time he comes up and asks me to look out for people surfing porn when I know he spends half his day watching x-rated stuff," she says.

Snooping into the lives of colleagues has become an addictive hobby for some administrators. "In fact it’s no longer just the administrator who has the power. What’s most scary is, be it a multinational or tiny organisation, you see the master password going around like popcorn these days. This means that absolutely anyone in the IT department has the power to snoop on employees," says Altaf Halde, country manager (India), Utimaco Safeware, a German MNC.

Sachin Deshpande, an IT hand with a Mumbai stock broking firm, spends most of his coffee breaks sharing the escapades of the company receptionist who, he knows, is sleeping with the vice-president. "What caught my eye was when he said ‘tonight jaan?’ on a chat. It raised a red flag." That’s when Deshpande and his friends started following the hot love trail. "I know it’s voyeuristic, but they leave it out in the open."

What he means is that when people choose to communicate sensitive matters on their office computers, they are asking for trouble. Almost every organisation snoops for protecting its own security. Needless to say, when Net administrators snoop for the grander cause of company welfare, they also indulge in a bit of personal gratification.

Ritesh Sharma, an IT administrator with a multinational in Mumbai, wooed his current girlfriend using information he scrounged from her emails and chats. "Going by her fan following in the office, I knew until I did something drastic I would always remain Mr Nobody." So in his quest to find love, he carefully gleaned information from her emails about her likes, dislikes, family and friends. And when the girl was going through a heartbreak, he strategically lent a shoulder for her to cry on. They are engaged now but she does not know that he had once shadowed her on the net.

Amit Malhotra, who administers the network of a well-known engineering company, managed to stumble upon the passwords of a number of senior managers. It gave him access to sensitive information. And since the information was there, he thought why not use it. So off went a thumb drive to the competitors with the latest tender figures. That made him a couple of lakhs richer. "I haven’t made it a habit of stealing. In fact, that one incident still haunts me," he says Malhotra. But he admits to a sense of power.

With millions of hackers trying to access all kinds of information and employees sapping up the bandwidth for personal entertainment, the importance of net administrators to an organisation is unambiguous. So, regular office-goers must understand that in the changed world they cannot escape being constantly monitored. Encrypting information through special software does not really help because, remember, there is decryption software too. The only way to protect your personal information is not to disperse it in the office computer. And to stay paranoid.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Your_darkest_secrets_in_office_comp/articleshow/2144533.cms

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Now, schools buy cover for students

22 Jun, 2007 l 0136 hrs ISTlArti Sharma & Reeba Zachariah/TIMES NEWS NETWORK


MUMBAI: Ever heard of a school or college buying an insurance cover for their students? It would have been probably unheard of six years ago. Not anymore. More and more schools are buying insurance cover for their students and the trend is not limited to metros. Even mini metros have jumped into the insurance bandwagon. For example, Vadodara-based Navrachana school, one of the city's leading educational institutions, has a cover for its students from New India Assurance. The policy covers both students and teachers for personal accident and health related risks during the six hours they are in the school premises, including any school trips taken in the year. The idea of buyingthe cover germinated when when a teacher accompanying a class of children on an outstation trip fell down and had to be hospitalised. Since 2003, the school has been renewing its cover for its 2,350 odd students and now even asks tour agents to provide additional insurance when a school trip is planned. Delhi-based insurance broking firm Optima has recently renewed Gurgaon's Summerfield School's insurance cover for its students for the third time. Provided by National Insurance, the insurance policy covers the child from the time he/she boards the school bus until the time they are dropped home. The policy is also valid for school trips.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Schools_buy_cover_for_students/articleshow/2140093.cms

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Rig Veda in UNESCO list hailed

Thursday, Jun 21, 2007 The Hindu

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesdaywelcomed the inclusion of the 3,000-year-old manuscripts of the Rig Veda by UNESCO in its cultural list for posterity.
“We welcome the development. Whenever items related to the cultural heritage of India get recognition by the world, it bring happiness to all countrymen,” Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni told reporters.
She was referring to the Rig Veda manuscripts from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, being selected for inscription in UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” Register 2007.
So far, India has three other nominations inscribed on the Register — the I.A.S Tamil Medic Manuscript Collection (1997), Archives of the Dutch East India Company (2003) and the Saiva Manuscripts in Pondicherry (2005).
The Vedas are the first literary documents in the history of humankind and transcend far beyond their identity as scriptures, according to an official statement.
Out of the total number of 28,000 manuscripts housed at the institute in Pune,30 manuscripts of the Rig Veda form a valuable part of the collection. “These manuscripts are ofhigh value as unique examples of the intellectual and cultural heritage not only of India, but of the world,” it said.
The inclusion of the Rig Veda was recommended by the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme meeting last week in Pretoria, South Africa. The programme, launched in 1992 to preserve and promote documentary heritage of global significance, much of which is endangered, helps networks of experts to exchange information and raise resources for preservation of, and access to, documentary material. — PTI

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/21/stories/2007062150920900.htm

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`Better ways to contain attrition than bonds'

Buisness Line Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsMonday, Jun 11, 2007
Archana Venkat

Force, coercion not the right way to go, says Kiran Karnik

Chennai June 10 Making employees sign bonds is not quite a measure to contain attrition, feels Mr Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom.
When asked for a comment on Infosys Technologies asking its employees to sign a `non-compete bond', Mr Karnik said he did not want to comment specifically on the company, but said that some large IT companies had managed to maintain attrition levels lower than the industry average without making employees sign bonds or other binding conditions.
"Forcing or using other coercive methods to bind employees is not the right way to go (to prevent attrition)," he said.
Non-compete bond
Infosys recently introduced a non-compete bond for all employees, according to which, an employee will have to wait for six months after quitting Infosys, before he joins a `competitor' who shares a common client with Infosys, especially if the employee in question had serviced the client in the last 12 months before quitting.
This also applies to employees quitting to join a client. The bond indicated Tata Consultancy Services, Accenture, IBM Global Services, Cognizant Technology Services and Wipro Ltd as `competitors'.
Mr Karnik said that he had not read the Infosys' document, but "any company that had such a clause would lose out on some bright employees, as bonds are generally seen as restricting individual growth".
Restrictive
What if Infosys's competitors implemented similar clauses? It is common knowledge that most employees leave one IT organisation only to join another, often a competitor. Such a clause/ bond if implemented industry-wide is likely to restrict even healthy attrition levels necessary to maintain competition. "I do not see other companies taking to it (implementing the clause) as attrition of 10-12 per cent is natural and healthy for the industry," Mr Karnik said.
Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Infosys Technologies, told Business Line, "This (clause) is nothing new. Others (competitors and clients) also have it. Some times clients insist we have such a clause. We have only formalised it (the clause) across the board."
Employees of IT companies have so far signed bonds against fixed monetary compensation that is paid to the company if the bond is broken. Beyond that, an employee is not bound to the organisation.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/06/11/stories/2007061101120200.htm

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`Attrition controls should not violate individual's freedom of choice'

Buisness Line Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsSunday, Jun 10, 2007
D. MuraliC. Ramesh

Chennai June 9 Infosys decision to curb employee exits by forcing them to sign non-compete agreements is being received with much criticism by people in the business of helping companies retain talent.
Though the company's recent move is clearly aimed at tackling attrition, which has become one of the key challenges in the IT industry, it violates the individual's freedom to choose a career of choice, says Mr Venkatesh L.S., General Manager of Edutech India, a company that provides systems that help corporates develop, manage and optimise their talent.
Dwelling on the implications of the Infosys decision, he told Business Line: "I am against any coercive measures to retain talent or impose restrictions on people. If we are talking about a free market, talent will also be subjected to the laws of demand and supply."
He also pointed out to the hassles involved in following a litigious route to stopping people from leaving.
"It is going to be hard to implement something like that. If we assume an attrition rate of 15 per cent, we are talking about over 10,000 exits in a year! Imagine tracking that many exits and filing that many lawsuits."
Besides, the planned Infosys clause will also prevent employees from not joining any of its competitors for a period of six months after their job termination at Infosys.
Specified competitors
The specified competitors are TCS, Accenture, IBM Global Services, CTS and Wipro.
"How do you define competition?" asked Mr Venkatesh. "If its competitors also impose such restrictions on their employees, where will Infosys meet its own talent needs?"
He added: "Sometimes employees leave to start a business which may compete. If you restrict that, what will happen to entrepreneurship in this country?"
According to him, companies should focus on retaining talent by creating conditions conducive to the employees and provide them suitable career plans and growth paths.
"The problem is not unique to a company or industry or geography. Until a couple of years ago, the war for Indian talent was fought among Indian companies. Now, global companies across industry segments are here, competing for the same talent."
In his view, the solution lies not in knee-jerk measures, "though they may help in the short term. They may also be counter-productive, as employees will not bond with the organisation and may not give their best."
Mr Venkatesh urged industry to focus on creating a healthy ecosystem that is sustainable. "There are many initiatives being taken by the industry to build, grow and nurture the talent pool. Many of them are very innovative and commendable and I am sure will yield desired results."
http://www.blonnet.com/2007/06/10/stories/2007061001770500.htm

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Indian business women beat the world

11 Jun, 2007 l 0126 hrs IST l TIMES NEWS NETWORK
LONDON: Asian female-entrepreneurs are generating more wealth than women in any other region of the world, according to a new global survey of 600 wealthy people, making the Bharatiya nari and Chinese nu more driven and daring than her sisters elsewhere. The report to be published on Monday by Barclays Wealth, Britain's leading wealth manager with £93 billion client-assets globally, is seen to shatter the stereotypical belief that Indians and other Asian women rely on inheritance and marriage as the lead sources of their wealth. Instead, the survey, which Barclays carried out in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), highlighted an important finding — that the vast majority of women are generating their wealth independently. The survey titled 'Barclays Wealth Insights: A Question of Gender' said that "compared to any other global regions, the wealth generated by female entrepreneurship is highest in Asia, where 26% cite income from a business as their main source of wealth". Globally, only 20% of women cite income from a business as the main source of wealth. The survey said that today's global picture of female wealth was largely driven from earnings and business ownership (83.9%) or from personal investments (32.8%), which compares favourably to marriage (24.7%), divorce (2.2%) and inheritance (19.9%). Barclays used wealthy female Indian entrepreneurs including Kalpana Morparia, joint MD of ICICI Bank, and Perween Warsi, the multi-millionaire Bihari British founder and CEO of S&A Foods, on its "insights panel" for the survey. Both Morparia and Warsi, who are used as case studies, have gone on record in the report to urge less emphasis on gender.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Asian_business_women_top_in_wealth_creation/articleshow/2113096.cms
The Times of India June 11, 2007

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